FREEDOM
by EmpressRulerofallthatiswierd
Summary: What is Freedom? What a simple question, but how do you explain? How do you explain to a seven year old child what freedom is? So when seven year old Ezra asked his parents this question, they answered in a very unique way.


Hey everybody! For those of you who are reading "Facade" and voted you can probably guess that I got no objections to temporarily post this as a one-shot. So here you go, but I must warn you guys that this is a little different from my mostly action-packed like story, it's, how you say, more spiritual? You know, where it feeds the soul... no? Meh, I don't know how else to describe it, you guys can be the judge :) Anyway, please read it and tell me what you guys think:)

DISCLAIMER... I don't own anything that is Disney and stuff like that, but if I did own it I'd be rich and probably blowing the money on a pool filled with my favorite soup... most would do chocolate, but I'm weird and am not fond of sweets... yeah, the fact I'm not fond of sweets is what's weird in this sentence.

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FREEDOM

"What is freedom?"... When 7 year old Ezra had asked his parents this, he had thought they would tell him in a few simple words, but that's not what happened. Instead Ezra found himself slowly walking up a hill with his parents, far away from any city, town, or building.

Ezra looked at his parents, the question still hung on his lips as he listened to them speak. They were telling him about how the Empire takes freedom and that it should never be taken. Their faces looked so distant... and sad, but Ezra didn't understand why.

In reality, it was perfectly understandable that the 7 year old didn't understand, the Empire had been around his whole life. How could the child know what it was like before the Empire, when there was no "Before the Empire" for him. How can you tell a 7 year old what freedom is? The feeling freedom gives you? How can you show your child what freedom is, without showing them what it isn't first?

" I know you said the Empire takes freedom, buuuut what IS it?" Ezra asked again, his guileless blue eyes looking up at his parents expectantly, hoping for a simple answer this time. He knew that the Empire was bad and tended to take everything that was good, but all that told him, was that freedom was good. What is it? Why is it so important?

The distant look his parents held vanished and were replaced with small smiles. Their eyes shining with fondness for their child as they glanced at each other and both gave a tiny breath of a laugh, before his mother, Mira, looked at him and answered in her sweet voice, "You'll see." before returning her attention to in front of her.

Ezra resisted the urge to sigh dramatically at her cryptic answer, that had been their answer 2 hours ago and he was starting to get tired, it was past dinner time and soon it would get dark. Instead Ezra grabbed his father, Ephraim's, hand and closed his eyes as they continued to walk. Trusting his father wouldn't let anything happen while his eyes were closed, he could feel his father's large hand encompass his small one in what felt like a warm, strong, embrace that said, I will always protect you.

A few minutes passed before Ezra felt his parents halt, stopping him from continuing further. Ephraim gently whispered in Ezra's ear, his voice kind and warm, "Ezra, open your eyes" Ezra did and what he was met with took his breath away. " Whoa..."

They were up on the top of the hill and laid out before them in all it's splendor was a field,... a field of endless tall golden grass that softly waved in the wind. The sun was setting in the distance, past the sea of grass, glowing brightly in a sphere of red. The sky around it was painted with a hue of orange, hugging the sun as close as possibly as its rays stretched across the sky. Twilight settled over the other half of the sky, a completely different contrast, and yet it blended together in perfect sync. There was a line in the sky where the orange rays met a green streak, the green streak turned to purple line, and the purple line grew into deep, deep, blue sea of unending space. The stars danced throughout the empyrean, flashing their brilliance as they surrounded the two moons gleaming elegance, beauty, grace, and most of all... mystery.

Ezra's heart slowed down as he looked out at the image before him, it was so massive, he couldn't tell where the heavens ended and the earth began. "What do you feel, Ezra?... what is your heart telling you to do?" Ezra didn't look at his father as he heard him speak, he didn't think he could if he tried, he was too enraptured by this... this... beauty. He didn't realize he knew the answer until the words came out on their own. "I want to go toward it." Even to his own ears, Ezra could tell his voice sounded full of want for this.

Mira leaned down to Ezra's ear, her voice soft and filled with happiness as she eagerly spoke these last words. "Then go for it!" And that's exactly what Ezra did.

He walked down the hill slowly at first, his heart beat increasing with each foot fall. When he reached the grass, he instantly stepped through it going faster and faster. What had started as a step, became a walk, that was a sprint, that turned into a full blown run. It was like he was flying, as he ran. He could feel everything! The grass hitting his legs, the cool wind in his face and hair, his heart beating faster and faster with each step he took, blood racing through his veins,... And It Was Exhilarating!

Ezra didn't stop running till he was a good 500 feet away from the hill he had started from, and when he did his heart filled with so much joy he couldn't contain it any longer. He jumped up into the air and shouted his joy with all his might, cheering so loudly nearby Loth cats scurried away in fright. "WWWHHHOOO, YYYYEEEEAAAAHHH!"

Ezra eventually stopped his cry's of glee, and looked at the sunset, his heartbeat strong and loud within him as his chest heaved up and down from exertion. Breathing deeply, he threw his head back and looked at the stars and the moons shining down upon him and his smile grew bigger. Closing his eyes, Ezra spread his arms out slightly and fell straight back onto the soft, cool grass, his face showing peace and contentment as he laid there breathing in the fresh air and listening to the sound of the wind and Loth cats playfully jumping in the grass.

After a minute or two Ezra heard shuffling beside him and he opened his eyes to find his parents looking at him, faces smiling with almost as much elation and peace as he had himself. Ezra couldn't help but grin at them as they too laid down on the ground and looked at the cosmos above them.

Finally, Ezra spoke just as the sun was starting to creep out of sight, "Was that freedom, mommy? Is that what freedom feels like?" They sat up, Ezra looking at his parents, the peace on their faces never leaving as his mother said, "Yes, Ezra,... that's... that's what freedom feels like." Now Ezra understood. Now he understood why freedom was so important.

Earlier that day in the market Ezra had seen a man have his possessions brutally ripped away from him by imperials. They kicked him down to the ground and had mocked him as they took away his livelihood, leaving him to silently cry in the dirt alone. Ezra at first didn't know what to make of it, why his heart hurt so much more than he thought it would at seeing that, but now he does. They had not only taken the man's things away, but part of his freedom was taken away as well. And the Empire was doing this everyday, slowly taking bits and pieces of freedom away until there would be none left.

From that moment, Ezra saw his parent's work in a new light. What they were doing, fighting to restore people's freedom was now the most amazing thing in Ezra's eyes.

Ezra looked at his parents who were sitting cross legged in front of each other, so close that if they wished they could have leaned forward and kissed right then and there without being uncomfortable.

Smiling, Ezra climbed into his fathers lap and stared at his mom, she was looking at him with more love than can easily be comprehended, and Ezra basked in it, never wanting it to end. Mira's face suddenly took a more serious expression as her eyes looked intently into Ezra's before she spoke, her words urgent. "Ezra, I want you to promise us something."

Ezra looked surprised, before he nodded, listening closely to his mother's next words as his dad soothingly ran his hand through his sons hair, calming him as he snuggled in closer.

Mira leaned forward, reached out and held Ezra's face gently in her hands, before bringing their foreheads to touch each other, closing her eyes as she did so, and Ezra did the same as a serene feeling came over them. The wind stilled as she spoke, almost sounding desperate as she breathed her words into the air. "Promise me... promise us, that no matter what happens, no matter where you are, you will take that feeling... that feeling of freedom and keep it close to your heart, and no matter what, never let go. Can you promise us that?"

Ezra was confused, why did she want him to do this, why did she suddenly seem so concerned about this. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Mira removed her head from his and they opened their eyes as she replied, her hands still grasping his face, " No, Ezra... but just promise us."

"I don't understand." Ezra said confused and worried, his mother had seemed so happy a moment ago and now she was upset, even though she was trying to hide it, Ezra could tell something was wrong.

"Ezra!" Desperation leaked into his name as she spoke it, struggling to stay clam. "Just..." Mira stopped, a sob was working its way up her throat, but before it could escape, Ephraim touched her knee, calming her. Breathing in she continued looking into Ezra's eyes, "Just promise us... promise Me."

Ezra stared before he answered, "I promise." Just as he said the words the sun disappeared and darkness fell over the field, the only light coming from the stars and Lothal's moons.

Mira smiled, tears faintly coating her eyes, before she leaned in and softly kissed his forehead, their eyes closing as she did so.

So right then and there, a fixed point in Ezra's life was made, it was seared into everything that he was and would become. That moment of being held in his fathers arms on the grassy plains of Lothal, while his mother kissed him tenderly on the forehead as the sun set and the stars and moons glowed in the sky, was forever written in Ezra's memory. And, so was the desire for freedom.

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AUTHOR NOTE...

I hope you guys liked it, please review! Reviews are the only thing that keep an author's life force sustained:)


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